The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to nanotechnology and, more particularly, but not exclusively, to a nanotube network and a method of fabricating a nanotube network.
Nanotechnology is a technological field which involves structures and processes in ultra-small spatial dimensions. Small structures are of interest from a fundamental point of view since they can have well-defined properties. With the ability to precisely control material properties comes new opportunities for technological and commercial development, and applications of nanostructures have been shown or proposed in areas as diverse as micro- and nanoelectronics, nanofluidics, coatings, paints and biotechnology.
Numerous configurations have been proposed and applied for the construction of nanostructures. Most widely used are the fullerene carbon nanotubes. Two major forms of carbon nanotubes exist, single-walled nanotubes (SWNT), which can be considered as long wrapped graphene sheets and multi walled nanotubes (MWNT) which can be considered as a collection of concentric SWNTs with different diameters. A typical diameter of a SWNT is less of the order of a few nanometers and a typical diameter of a MWNT is of the order of a few tens to several hundreds of nanometers.
Carbon nanotubes gain attraction in nanotechnology because of their unique electrical and mechanical properties for use in constructing nanoscale electronic circuitry and mechanical devices. It has been discovered that the electrical properties of a carbon nanotube vary as a function of its chirality, the angle at which the graphitic lattice spirals about the tubular contour of the nanotube. Electrical properties of carbon nanotubes can vary between metallic, highly conductive structures and semiconducting structures.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,189,430 teaches a method of making carbon nanotubes. A nanotube source gas is provided onto a substrate containing a template structure. The carbon nanotubes are grown on two surfaces of the template structure but not on exposed portions of the substrate material which supports the template structure. The grown carbon nanotubes are controllably aligned in a direction perpendicular to the respective surfaces of the template structure.
U.S. Published Application No. 20040232426 discloses a nanotube array and a method for producing a nanotube array. The nanotube array has a substrate, a catalyst layer on the surface of the substrate and nanotubes which are arranged on the surface of the catalyst layer, parallel to the surface of the substrate.